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Mess of Trouble: Residents complain of illegal dumping in their neighborhoods

(WSVN) - Some South Florida residents are tired of being dumped on, and they want people to stop trashing their neighborhood. 7’s Brian Entin has more on this “Mess of Trouble.”

When Michael wants to get up close and personal with nature, he takes a stroll around his Mandarin Lakes community in South Miami-Dade.

Michael: “There are many beautiful ducks that come here all the time that are a part of the lake, fish, even alligators. It’s calm, it’s peaceful.”

But his tranquil retreat is being replaced by trash.

Michael: “This is shameful. This is terrible.”

There are mounds of trash all around the lake. Locals say the area looks more like a dump site than a boat landing.

Josue Augones, tired of illegal dumping: “They dump a lot of stuff out here. A lot of stuff! I’ll be picking up bags and boxes, whatever floats into the lake.”

On the day we were there, we found TV sets, couches and even abandoned boats.

Michael says he has found even worse.

Michael: “I saw the bones, which I still don’t know what they are.”

A few miles away in Palmetto Bay, Mary is constantly cleaning up other people’s garbage. They toss it on her property in the middle of the night. And the county has cited her, not once, but twice for the trash.

Mary Rodriguez, tired of illegal dumping: “She gave me a warning stating that there was some rocks and that we had two weeks to pick them up. My nephew came out here and picked it up. The very next day, when we come here, there’s a huge sofa, so three days later, she shows up and gives me another warning for the sofa.”

County officials were able to track down and fine a couple of the illegal dumpers, but they say they don’t have the resources to pick up all the illegal trash.

Paul Mauriello, Miami-Dade Waste Management: “We’re not permitted to provide any free services of any kind. We’ll send enforcement officers out and they’ll look through the pile and they’ll see if they can find any evidence in there that might lead us to who the perpetrator is and then we’ll cite that individual.”

Both neighborhoods have no dumping signs, but Michael and Mary say people ignore the warnings.

Michael: “They care nothing about their fellow man. You know? It’s just crazy.”

Mary Rodriguez: “I hope that they get cited, big citations because what they are doing is horrible.”

Their message to the people dumping trash in their communities?

Michael: “Shame on you. Shame on you big time. That duck, poor thing is walking right through the garbage.”

Shame on all the illegal dumpers who are trashing their neighborhoods and creating this “Mess of Trouble.”

Solid Waste Management tells us they are only responsible for illegal dumping that happens on the sidewalk and the street… not within private property.

Since we went out to the lake in Michael’s neighborhood, someone has cleaned up the bulk of the trash on the shore, but Michael says trash is starting to pile up again.

If you’re dealing with illegal dumping and want to do something about it, we have information below.